During the past years, the evolution of computing devices such as tablets, ipods, mobile computers, mobile phones, game consoles, personal digital assistants, etc., was driven by the concept of being mobile and able to provide all the desired content to a user. Such desired content includes, for example, multimedia content.
Multimedia content consumption is exponentially increasing in operator networks, both fixed and wireless. As a way to cope with the increased traffic, the network operators are considering deploying different caching technologies that attempt to reduce both the peering costs and the access network traffic, thereby reducing the total ongoing cost for running the network. Also the Quality of Experience of accessing the content is increased as network bottlenecks on the path between the content source and user terminal are eliminated.
A factor to consider when dealing with multimedia content consumption is the mobility of the user terminal. A trend that is emerging in the way end users consume multimedia is the preference of using a mobile terminal instead of the traditional fixed computer or TV set. Operators are experiencing an exponential increase in the amount of media traffic that their clients are consuming via smart phones and tablet-like devices.
When these two trends (mobility and content consumption) are considered together, a set of technical challenges emerge in the way content is delivered. On one side, the operator wants to have localized caches that offload traffic from the core network and deliver the content to the client with the highest possible quality of experience, while, on the other side, mobile terminals roam freely in the wireless infrastructure, thereby making the operator's choice of cache to deliver the content difficult, especially when a handover has occurred.
It is now briefly discussed the current status of the art with regard to serving mobile devices while moving inside a communication network. As those skilled in the art know, the architecture for each type of network is different. For exemplary reasons, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) mobility architecture is now discussed. FIG. 1 shows a general arrangement for a LoCation Service (LCS) in 3GPP. Except in the security area, many applications have been discovered and will have a greater development boost in the LBS (Location Based Services) area. The architecture for LCS is designed by 3GPP and it is used in Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and Evolved Packet System (EPS).
A central point of the architecture 10 is the GMLC (Gateway Mobile Location Center) 12. The GMLC 12 contains functionality required to support LCS. GMLC 12 is the first node an external LCS client 14 (e.g., a non-3GPP device) accesses in a GSM or UMTS network. The GMLC 12 may request routing information from the HLR (Home Location register, not shown) or HSS (Home Subscriber Server) 16. After performing registration authorization, the GMLC 12 sends positioning requests to either the VMSC (Visited Mobile Switching Centre, not shown), the SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) 17 or MSC (Mobile Switching Centre) Server 18 and receives final location information of the user terminal, which information is estimated from the corresponding entity. The VMSC, SGSN or MSC connect to the corresponding Access Network (not shown) and the Access Network will provide the positioning of the user terminal.
FIG. 1 shows various interfaces Gb, Lc, Le, Lg, Lh, Lid, Lpp, Lr, Lu, SLg, and SLs between various components of the architecture 10. For example, these interfaces are: Gb, Interface between 2G-SGSN and GERAN (GSM EDGE Radio Access Network); Lc, Interface between gateway MLC (mobile location center) and gsmSCF (CAMEL interface); Le, Interface between External User and MLC (external interface); Lg, Interface between Gateway MLC-VMSC, GMLC-MSC Server, GMLC-SGSN (gateway MLC interface); Lh, Interface between Gateway MLC and HLR (HLR interface); Lid, Interface between GMLC and PMD; Lpp: Interface between GMLC (H-GMLC) and PPR (Privacy Profile Register) entity; Lr, Interface between gateway MLCs; Lu, Interface between 3G-SGSN or MSC and GERAN or UTRAN; SLg, Interface between GMLC and MME; and SLs, Interface between MME (Mobility Management Entity) and E-SMLC. Communication between the GMLC and External LCS Client is performed by Mobile Location Protocol (MLP).
A communication between the GMLC 12 and the LCS client 14 is illustrated in FIG. 2. A general arrangement of LCS with inter-GMLC is given by 3GPP, which show that GMLC 12 includes a Visiting Gateway Mobile Location Centre (VGMLC) 12a, a Home Gateway Mobile Location Centre (HGMLC) 12b and a Requesting Gateway Mobile Location Centre (RGMLC) 12c. 
Complying with 3GPP Release 7, LCS Specification, the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) specified a basic structure for the LBS services in the OMA Mobile Location Service which consists of a set of location specification. The specification suggests the basic architectural diagram of LBS as illustrated on FIG. 3. In the detailed scheme of Location Platform shown in FIG. 3, the protocols for each interface are defined. However, the Location Privacy Checking Entity (PLCE) is not specified by OMA.
More specifically, the Mobile Location Protocol (MLP) is used for the communication between the MLS Client 20 and the Requesting Location Server 22. The MLS client 20 corresponds to the Location Services client (LCS Client) in the 3GPP context. The Location Privacy Checking Entity 24 is responsible for resolving IDs and for privacy checking. In the 3GPP context this corresponds to the Privacy Profile Register (PPR). The PPR may be a part of the GMLC. FIG. 3 also shows the Home Location Server 26 of the user terminal and the Visited Location Server 28.
From the above discussion it is noted that the traditional way of handling mobility in mobile networks is based on the described 3GPP architecture. This architecture was originally designed for scenarios where the transport protocol is based on the 3GPP RTSP/RTP specification, and where the content origin point does not change (move) in the course of the content delivery. However, the introduction of caching technologies require new techniques not covered in the original specifications of the existing systems.
An architecture for client mobility needs to take into consideration not only the user terminal position but also the status of the network links when making a decision about a source/cache from where to deliver the content. This desirable architecture also needs to be able to change the delivery point as the user terminals change radio cells.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide devices, systems and methods that overcome the afore-described problems and drawbacks.